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SIR OLIVER LODGE 
IS RIGHT 



Spirit Communication a Fact 



By 
GRACE GARRETT DURAND 



ritoatelp JJrinteU 

Lake Forest, III. 
1917 



•Us 



copyright, 191 8, by 
Grace Garrett Durand 



Press of Rand McNally &• Co. 



PEB 15 1918 

©CI.A481848 



/ dedicate this volume to my 
beloved Sister 

Mary Helen Garrett 

who in passing over into the higher 
life y February 2, 1917, drew aside 
the veil for me, that I might know 
the Truth and receive this great 
revelation of Spirit communication 

G. G. D. 



PREFACE 

TN giving out this revelation to the world it 
is only with the deepest sanctity and rever- 
ence, and I might add, a reluctance in the fear 
that this beautiful and wonderful experience 
may, through necessity of the times, be soiled 
by public skepticism; but in the belief that 
in the world today there are millions eagerly 
awaiting the message, I give it now with a 
heart full of hope and love. 

Will the world accept it? Or do the words 
"Crucify Him!" "Crucify Him!" still cling 
to suffering humanity in their potency and 
unbelief? 



G. G. D. 



Lake Forest, III., 
Nov. i, igiy 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Chapter I. Present Day Interest in 

Psychic Phenomena . 13 

Chapter II. Scientific and Literary 
Notables Who Were Out- 
spoken Spiritists . . .21 

Chapter III. My Conversations with 
Abraham Lincoln, Count 
Tolstoi, and Joan of Arc 2 7 

Chapter IV. Clergy from Every Church 
and Creed Acknowledge 
Spiritism as a Fact . . 37 

Chapter V. The World's Greatest 
Statesmen, Authors, and 
Poets Voiced the Truth 
of Spirit Communication 41 

Chapter VI. My Own Awakening to 
the Truth. Christian 
Science vs. Spirit Heal- 
ing, Many Testimonials 44 

Chapter VII. Separating the Tares from 
the Wheat— All Genius 
is but Inspiration from 
the Spirit World . . 55 



Sir Oliver Lodge Is Right 



SIR OLIVER LODGE IS RIGHT 

SPIRIT COMMUNICATION A FACT 



CHAPTER I 

Present Day Interest in Psychic 
Phenomena 

TN a recent magazine, Sir Arthur Conan 
Doyle caps his splendid article on Spiritism 
with an interrogation, "Is Sir Oliver Lodge 
Right?" It is my great privilege to affirm, 
while Sir Conan Doyle begs the question in 
spite of the proof of his own conviction. 

"Then certain philosophers of the 
Epicureans, and of the Stoics, en- 
countered him. And some said, 
What will this babbler say? other 
some, He seemeth to be a setter forth 
of strange gods: .... 

"And they took him and brought 
him unto Areopagus, saying, May 
we know what this new doctrine, 
whereof thou speakest, is? 

13 



"For thou bringest certain strange 
things to our ears: we would know 
therefore what these things mean. 

"Then Paul stood in the midst of 
Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, 
I perceive that in all things ye are too 
superstitious. 

"For as I passed by, and beheld 
your devotions, I found an altar with 
this inscription, To the Unknown 
God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly 
worship, him I declare unto you." 
(Acts 17:18-19-20-22-23.) 

Century after century has passed since Paul 
uttered these words and yet today as then the 
same inscription is found over the many altars 
of church and creed — To the Unknown God. 

Like a voice crying in the wilderness, Truth, 
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, has been 
but "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal' ' so 
lightly has it penetrated into the heart and 
soul of the mortal of this earth plane. 

When I can stand today and say openly and 
fearlessly that I speak directly to those who 
have passed over to the Life Eternal, or what 
the world calls Death, the worldly wise, the 
skeptical, the ignorant, superciliously smile or 
perchance may pity. Nevertheless it is a fact 
that it is as natural for me now to speak to 

14 



those on the other side, as we say, as it is to 
speak to those in the flesh. The voices are 
as distinct, oftentimes more distinct, than the 
voices of some human beings. 

In no article on Spiritism in recent current 
literature has the Voice Medium been men- 
tioned and yet no means of communication 
with the Spirit world is as positive or of such 
absolute proof. Sir Oliver Lodge in the 
August number of the Bookman describes the 
different modus operandi of mediumship but 
does not mention the voice medium, the one 
complete communication with the Spirit world; 
but this is not strange, for so far as is known 
there are few if any voice mediums in England 
and not many on the entire earth plane. Jutis 
Vairi, an occult brother of India in the 18th 
Century, told me recently from the Spirit 
world, in speaking of the voice medium, that 
there are today and always have been voice 
mediums among the Psychics of India, but 
that the communication to man in India from 
the Spirit world is more generally the Voice 
of God within man, an impression as it were, 
or conscience thought. 

There is no longer any doubt in the authen- 
ticity of communication between the Spirit 
world and the earth plane; it is an established 
fact beyond dispute, even though the intel- 
lectual, scientific and ecclesiastical world may 

15 



not yet be ready to accept it. But the world 
today is blessed with great minds too broad to 
sneer, too open to refuse to listen and when such 
men as Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan 
Doyle, Maurice Maeterlinck, not only listen 
but express their views and impressions, the 
world is beginning to "wonder." 

"Sir Oliver Lodge," as Maurice Maeterlinck 
speaks of him in the August Bookman , "is one 
of the most notable scientists of our time. . . 
He has, in a word, one of the best balanced 
brains that one could hope to meet ; and he is 
convinced that the dead do not die but are 
able to communicate with us." 

The public very generally is conversant with 
Sir Oliver Lodge's book, "Raymond, or Life 
and Death." I doubt if in recent years any 
one book has absorbed the reading public as 
has this volume. In these times of dreadful 
stress when the flower of manhood has been so 
ruthlessly cut down, for one to catch even a 
glimpse of the "beyond" has been life to many 
an aching heart that has suffered in this world- 
wide conflict. 

This is perhaps the first time that one has 
openly given out the life that is beyond the 
veil and the living words of Raymond, who in 
his frank boyishness, tells even the minutest 
details of his spiritual surroundings, is like a 
cup of cold water to parched lips. But Ray- 

16 



mond was a new Spirit in the Spirit world 
when the communications to his father were 
given as related in "Raymond, ' ' since which time 
he has had great spiritual growth and develop- 
ment and his knowledge and understanding of 
the Life Eternal is much fuller and plainer to 
him now. He longs to speak again through 
his father, to the world — to tell of the won- 
derful and beautiful existence of those who have 
passed over from the battle fields — to assure 
the weeping fathers and mothers, wives and 
children, who are grieving for their own in this 
terrible war,that if they could but know the 
joy and happiness of their loved ones in the 
Spirit world, no more tears would be shed; 
rather songs of thanksgiving be sung and 
prayers of gratitude be said. 

I have had several splendid talks with Ray- 
mond, and the conversation is the same as 
I would have with any bright, pure-minded, 
noble young man in the flesh. Raymond 
naturally is very much interested in the war 
and war conditions, and in a conversation with 
him a few days ago he spoke of our own Ameri- 
can boys getting ready to go the front, or of 
those who are already there, and said, "Mrs. 
Durand, I love to look at them, they are such 
a fine lot of fellows.' ■ 

I have not as yet written Sir Oliver Lodge 
in regard to these talks with Raymond, 

17 



although I had meant to do so, but Raymond 
laughingly said the other day, "Father gets 
thousands of letters about his book, so your 
letter might never reach his eye; better still, 
write an article for a magazine and send him 
the magazine; he will get that." 

The same thought was given me by one of 
America's richest young men, who passed over 
the border a short time ago and who left a 
beautiful young widow. When I asked him if 
I should write her of our conversations, he 
quickly replied, "Goodness, no, Mrs. Durand, 
she would think you crazy! But can't you 
write an article for a magazine and send her 
that first ? The interest displayed in ' Patience 
Worth' and 'Raymond' shows that people are 
beginning to think and it is the psychological 
moment, I believe, for you to tell the world 
what you are experiencing." 

This young man was no doubt envied by 
half the world for his great wealth inherited 
from his grandfather, yet it was of no avail 
when he seemed needlessly taken so early 
in life, and his worldly possession was of 
naught, but the fine, beautiful Spirit that 
comes to me and reveals himself as a true son 
of God is the greatest wealth he could possess. 
Noble, clear-minded, sweet, full of love, in- 
deed a rare personality that the earth plane 
missed. God grant that he may from the 

18 



Spirit world be of greater value to struggling 
humanity than the exercise of his earthly pos- 
sessions ever could have been through him 
had he been spared. 

In the summer of 1913 Mrs. John H. Curran 
of St. Louis, Missouri, sat with a ouiji board on 
her knees, when the words "Patience Worth' ' 
were spelled out, with the declaration that she 
was a Spirit in the Spirit world and now had 
come to speak again to the world through the 
mediumship of Mrs. Curran. From that time 
on communications of all kinds, "conversa- 
tional, literary, including hundreds of poems, 
numerous parables, allegories, short stories, a 
drama and two novels' ' have been given over 
the ouiji board by Patience Worth. The 
world loves a "Psychic Mystery" and the fact 
of not knowing exactly who Patience Worth is, 
keys the imaginative mind to a high degree. 
There is no doubt but that the rare beauty of 
the literature, the exquisite diction and un- 
usual phraseology is without parallel. Words 
are used found only in the plays of Shakespeare, 
and the quick wit and repartee is delicious. 
"A Sorry Tale" has just been published and 
will rank with the novels of any time. 

So much for what is known by the public. 
For what is not known by the public, my 
mother in the Spirit world has given me: 
"Patience Worth is a peculiar, unusual Spirit, 

19 



most beautiful to look upon and wonderfully 
developed spiritually. For years she had 
hoped to find one on the earth plane whom 
she could use as a medium, and through an 
instrument particularly adapted for her use. 
This she found in Mrs. Curran and the ouiji 
board.' ' As for the direct voice, she will have 
none of it, when I asked if she would speak to 
me, preferring her own way of communication 
exclusively through Mrs. Curran and the ouiji 
board, and my brother in the Spirit world 
laughingly remarked, "No use to urge her to 
speak to you. Patience Worth has a mind and 
a will of her own and we had better let it 
alone. " 

From this particular communication the re- 
sults are charming and interesting. The only 
misfortune is in the universal use of the ouiji 
board by the public, which the doings of 
Patience Worth has inspired. Mr. Stead in 
speaking of it to me from the Spirit world, 
recently said, "It is most unfortunate, for the 
ouiji board is so unreliable in the hands of the 
public, it proves a dangerous instrument." In 
other words, one's own conscious or subcon- 
scious thought may be the "Spirit" the indi- 
vidual thinks is speaking. 



20 



CHAPTER II 

Scientific and Literary Notables Who 
Were Outspoken Spiritists 

lV/TR. STEAD is the late William T. Stead, 
former Editor of the Review of Reviews in 
London and a man whose name, like Glad- 
stone's, was a household word in England, and 
one might say also, in America. Mr. Stead 
was not only one of the foremost literary men 
of England but a man known in every path 
of life, and a keen investigator of Spirit com- 
munication. Associated with Mr. Stead are 
the following scientists, some of whom com- 
prise the English Society for Psychical Re- 
search, and all of whom have openly acknowl- 
edged Spirit communication as a fact beyond 
dispute. 

Sir William Crookes, F. R. S., editor of the 
London Quarterly Journal of Science, inventor 
of the Crookes vacuum tube which made pos- 
sible the X-ray, and author of " Researches in 
the Phenomena of Spiritualism, ' ' says : ' ' That 
certain physical phenomena, such as the move- 
ment of material substances, and the produc- 
tion of sounds resembling electric discharges 

21 



occur under circumstances in which they can- 
not be explained by any physical law at present 
known, is a fact of which I am as certain as I 
am of the most elementary facts in chemistry." 

Professor A. R. Wallace of England (the 
great naturalist and member of many scientific 
societies, who shares the honor with Charles 
Darwin of being the discoverer of the principles 
of evolution) , writes : ' ' We are justified in tak- 
ing the facts of Modern Spiritualism (and with 
them the only tenable one) as being fully es- 
tablished. Its whole course and history pro- 
claim it to be neither imposture nor delusion, 
nor survival of beliefs of savages, but a great 
and important truth/ ' Again he says: "My 
position, therefore, is that the phenomena of 
Spiritualism in their entirety do not require 
further confirmation. They are proved in 
other sciences, and it is not denial or quibbling 
that can disprove any of them." 

F. W. H. Myers, poet and essayist, late head 
of the English Society for Psychic Research, 
and a great personal friend of Sir Oliver Lodge, 
the present President of the Society, said: 
"The records of the Society for Psychical Re- 
search have actually proved to my mind, first, 
survival pure and simple, the persistence of 
the spirit's life, as a structural law of the uni- 
verse; second, that between the spiritual and 
the material worlds an avenue of communica- 



22 



tion does in fact exist; third, that the surviv- 
ing spirit retains, at least in some measure, the 
memories and loves of the earth. " 

Prof. Richard Hodgson, M. A. LL. D., mem- 
ber of the British Society for Psychical Re- 
search, and secretary of the American Psy- 
chical Research Society, testifies as follows: 
"For a period of twelve years I have had com- 
munication with the spirits of those long dead, 
through the mediumship of Mrs. Piper. To- 
day I am prepared to say that I am a believer 
in the possibility of messages being received 
from what people call the Spirit land." 

Herbert Mayo, F. R. S., M. D., Professor 
of Anatomy and Psychology in King's Col- 
lege, London, England, is quoted as follows: 
"Twenty-five years ago I was a hard-headed 
unbeliever. Spiritual phenomena, however, 
suddenly and quite unexpectedly were soon 
after developed in my family. This led me to 
inquire and to try numerous experiments in 
such a way as to preclude the possibility of 
trickery and self-deception. That the phe- 
nomena occur there is overwhelming evidence, 
and it is too late now to deny their existence.' ' 
And Dr. Robert Chambers, F. R. S., LL. D., 
author of the Cyclopedia of English Literature, 
etc., declares : "I have for many years known 
that these phenomena are real, as distinguished 
from imposture, and when fully accepted will 

23 



revolutionize the whole frame of human opinion 
on many important matters." 

In our own country the American Society for 
Psychical Research at Columbia College, New 
York, is pursuing this investigation under the 
direction of Prof. James H. Hyslop. 

Among other femous Scientists who accept 
Spiritism as well established as is astronomy, 
chemistry or any other science, are the fol- 
lowing: 

Prof. Robert Hare, Professor of Chemistry 
in the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate of 
Yale College and Harvard University, Asso- 
ciate Member of the Smithsonian Institute. 

Dr. Elliott Coues, member of the National 
Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Institute, 
Washington, D.C., M. A., M. D., Ph. D., Nor- 
wich University, Johns Hopkins University, a 
Spiritist and a medium also. Dr. Coues pub- 
lished an article in the Philadelphia Sunday 
Express in which he said: "I have myself 
seen spirits of a good many dead persons. On 
several occasions I have been aware of the 
presence of spiritual bodies of deceased per- 
sons who gave information that was not other- 
wise obtainable, and who conveyed to my mind 
a conviction of their identity. . . . Let me 
tell you that I know that the alleged phenom- 
ena of Spiritualism are true substantially as 
alleged." 

24 



The late Professor William James, Professor 
of Psychology, Harvard University. 

Prof. Camille Flammarion, the great astron- 
omer of France. 

Prof. Cesare Lombroso, Alienist-Professor of 
Psychiatry, University of Turin, Italy. 

Prof. Cromwell F. Varley, F. R. S., probably 
one of the greatest living electricians of his 
time. 

J. Hewat McKenzie, author of "Spirit Inter- 
course, Its Theory and Practice/ ' which is the 
latest evidence by an English authority of the 
continuity of life beyond death. 

Dr. W. F. Barrett, Professor of Experimental 
Physics and Dean of Faculty in Royal College 
of Sciences of Ireland, whose book "On the 
Threshold of the Unseen* ■ has just been given 
to the public. 

Dr. T. L. Nichols, F. R. S., author of "Eso- 
teric Anthropology.' ' etc. 

Prof. James Challis, F. R. S., Professor of 
Astronomy and Philosophy, Cambridge Uni- 
versity, England. 

Dr. John Elliotson, F. R. S., M. D., Pro- 
fessor of Medicine in London University, Presi- 
dent of the Royal Medicine and Chirurgical 
Society, etc. 

Earl of Crawford and Belcarres, F. R. S., 
Past President of the Royal Astronomical So- 
ciety. 

25 



Prof. William Gregory, P. R. S., M. D., 
Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh Univer- 
sity, author of "Outlines of Chemistry," etc. 

Prof. Wm. Denton, eminent geologist, au- 
thor of "Our Planet, Its Past and Future," 
"Soul of Things," etc. 

Prof. Joseph Rodes of Buchanan, M. D., 
Professor of Psychology, Electric Medical In- 
stitute of Cincinnati, author of "Therapeutic 
Sarcognomy," "Manual of Psychometry," etc. 

Victor Hugo, the great French writer, was a 
Spiritist. Queen Victoria of England for many 
years held daily conversations with her spirit 
husband, through John Brown, a medium, and 
should I delve deeper into past history, many 
more personalities that rose above the average 
in scientific and literary attainment, may be 
included as out and out believers in Spirit 
communication. 



26 



CHAPTER III 

My Conversations with Abraham Lincoln, 
Count Tolstoi, and Joan of Arc 

PRESIDENT LINCOLN has himself told 
me in many conversations I have had with 
him from the Spirit world that he was directed 
in his great work during the Civil War and as 
President by his mother and others in the 
Spirit world. Mr. Lincoln, or " Uncle Abe," 
as he has lovingly asked me to call him, said 
that had he respected his mother's advice the 
day of his assassination he would not have 
gone to the theater the fateful night, as his 
mother had that day warned him not to go. 

The reader must not think me presumptuous 
when I say that I hold long and beautiful con- 
versations with Mr. Lincoln, with Count Tol- 
stoi, and wonder of wonders, even with Joan 
of Arc. Rich indeed am I, and privileged be- 
yond belief when that sweet spirit of renown 
sees fit to come to one as lowly as I on this 
earth plane. When first she came the con- 
versation began in French, but seeing that it 
was difficult for me to fully understand her she 
at once changed to English, and at my regret 

27 



in not being more conversant with French 
she replied, "No, it is not necessary, for Eng- 
lish will in time be the universal language/ ' 
The same heroic personality is still manifest, 
as she exultingly tells me of "her brave French 
soldier boys" and how she is with them, con- 
stantly urging them forward and onward to a 
triumphant victory. The tender solicitude and 
interest displayed in my own little personal 
affairs by Mr. Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Count 
Tolstoi and others, personalities I have known 
only through history, is delightful and touches 
me deeply. 

Mr. Lincoln is naturally keyed up to a high 
pitch over the position we have taken in this 
world war. And for me to have the privilege 
of discussing the war and our owi political 
affairs with our beloved martyred President is 
hard for me to realize and harder still for the 
public to believe. 

In talking over our country's part in this 
great war early last spring, Mr. Lincoln voiced 
the importance of the President's appointing 
a War Board, when war was actually declared, 
for he felt there should be a central Board, a 
centralization of all the heads of the war work. 
The cabinet has quite enough to do with the 
usual routine of the nation in peace times, and 
to place upon it the entire burden of the war 
would not be economic wisdom. However, 

28 



the members of the cabinet should be included 
in this Board with the President as an advisory 
head or ex-officio member. Men should be 
chosen best suited for these positions, irre- 
spective of party affiliation, and each man be 
peculiarly fitted for the branch of service of 
which he is to be the head. One man on Food 
and the necessities of life for our soldiers, our- 
selves and our Allies, another for coal and fuel 
of all kinds, still another for equipment and 
munitions. One and preferably an experienced 
railroad man, to take charge of all transporta- 
tion and shipping. The ablest lawyer to be 
found on National and International Law 
should be a member of this Board to decide any 
legal question that might arise between the 
Allies and ourselves. Another, active in our 
Secret Service, to handle the Aliens within our 
midst, industrial disturbances and strikes. 
A special committee should be appointed to 
take charge of all problems directly involving 
labor, represented by one man as a member of 
the War Board. This Board to meet at stated 
intervals and to be a clearing house, as it 
were, in this great business of war which has 
been placed upon us "for the freedom of the 
world — for justice and for peace." I then 
asked Mr. Lincoln if it would not be possible 
for him and the Spirit world to so impress or 
inspire our administration that it would bring 

29 



about just such a Board, to which he replied, 
"Wait and see." 

Mr. Lincoln has not failed to voice his anger 
over the activities of some of our wealthy and 
influential citizens, who, while making a great 
parade of their patriotism, were secretly in 
collusion with the enemy in getting foodstuffs 
into Germany. "They may say they are not 
shipping food to Germany, perhaps they are 
not, but they know that it nevertheless gets 
there," and again, "Our Government will have 
to put an embargo on all food, for too much of 
it is going straight to Germany." He was re- 
lieved and pleased when Mr. Wilson did take 
that drastic step in placing an embargo on 
food exportation. 

In regard to the submarines, Mr. Lincoln 
regretted that our country did not start the 
building of submarine destroyers a year or two 
ago, but he is more than delighted over the 
rapid progress now being made in building the 
destroyers. The first week in September Mr. 
Lincoln told me of a wonderful shell our navy 
had invented and was using on the submarines, 
"Six submarines already destroyed by them — 
that shell, Mrs. Durand, is going to finish the 
submarines." 

Mr. Lincoln has the greatest faith, however, 
in our aeroplane fleet and feels it will play a 
most important part in hastening the end of 

30 



the war. The new aeroplane engine has in- 
terested him greatly. One day he informed 
me triumphantly, "We have twenty-two hun- 
dred aeroplanes all finished and ready for the 
new engine," and when the engine was finally 
demonstrated so successfully Mr. Lincoln was 
very happy and full of enthusiasm. 

It seemed to me last spring that Mr. Lin- 
coln was a little uneasy over our lack of war 
preparation, but the magnificent manner in 
which our Government placed one hundred 
thousand men on French soil with such dis- 
patch and secrecy (I was told how many were 
on the ocean, how many had landed, how many 
about to start, where they had sailed from and 
where they were, and what they were doing. 
I doubt if another person in the world outside 
of the official army and navy circles knows as 
much as I do of our military and naval maneu- 
vers; however, although a woman, I can keep 
a secret, particularly when Abraham Lincoln 
tells me not to tell!), the splendid draft bill, 
liquor bill, and other legislative steps, together 
with the rapidity of military and naval train- 
ing of our men, and the unselfish and self- 
sacrificing attitude of thousands of men and 
women from every class of society, the coming 
forward of so many prominent business men to 
give their executive ability, experience and 
time to this great cause, have all impressed 

31 



Mr. Lincoln deeply. He knows and loves 
every soldier and every sailor, every man and 
every woman and every child who has re- 
sponded to the Nation's call in this great 
world conflict, and he manifests the keenest 
interest in them all and in the great part his 
own beloved country is taking — for never in 
history, he has said, was a more righteous war 
waged, "A war not of nation against nation, 
but Justice, Honor and Godliness against Au- 
tocracy, Greed and Brutality, in their most 
hideous and viperous forms." 

After the war — what ? A brotherly love and 
spirituality the world has never before known 
— is the hope of our martyred President, God 
bless him ! 

And now about Russia. As a young girl the 
two men who stood out the strongest in all the 
world for me were John Ruskin of England and 
Count Tolstoi of Russia. Never was I tired 
of reading of Count Tolstoi and picturing him 
in his little garden under the shade of his 
favorite tree, pondering, pondering over life 
problems and their solution. For God to 
make it possible for me to sit in the quiet of 
my own little room and to hear that great 
man tell me of Russia, stirs me to such a 
depth that for hours after I can think of 
nothing else. Step by step for several months 
has Count Tolstoi led me with him in Russia 

32 



and with Russia's struggle, but always, always 
the last thing he would say, "Do not worry, 
Mrs. Durand, Russia will win." 

Ah, how little does Kerensky and those who 
are giving their very life blood for their be- 
loved country know that Tolstoi, their own 
Tolstoi is with them every moment, encourag- 
ing them, leading them, guarding them. 

It so happened that the day the Czar was 
exiled that I had the great privilege of a talk 
with Count Tolstoi. "I am very sad, Mrs. 
Durand, I am very sad today. I do not wish 
to see the Czar and his family exiled to Si- 
beria. The Czar did not mean wrong, he has a 
good heart, but is weak. I wish it were other- 
wise and that they would not be sent." 

At the time that the Russian soldiers were 
fleeing and becoming traitors to the great cause 
of Russia, and Germany seemed to be getting 
the upper hand in Russia, upon my great so- 
licitude and alarm over the situation, Count 
Tolstoi replied, "No fear, Mrs. Durand, even 
if for the time being Germany does gain this 
territory, she cannot hold it. My soldiers 
weakening has only delayed the end of the war 
but has not changed the ultimate result." 

Tolstoi I find is the same Tolstoi — interesting 
and interested in all of life's problems and hu- 
manity's struggles. When I asked what I might 
say of him in my writings, he quickly replied: 

33 



"Say to the world that I am the same, the 
same Tolstoi they knew before, but with a 
larger vision and a greater knowledge. As up- 
on earth I gave out my prophecy, so now do I 
prophesy that this great conflict is but the 
necessary weapon to clear the earth of Greed, 
Hate, and Autocracy. To the children of the 
earth plane let me say it will be to you a beau- 
tiful and wonderful blessing, for from out the 
smoke and noise of battle a new generation 
shall be born, guided from above, in which a 
great spiritual awakening will bring righteous- 
ness, wisdom and love to you all." 

Since writing the above the German inva- 
sion into Italy has taken place. Count Tolstoi, 
although not disparaging the attack, did not 
think it as serious as reported, for he believed 
the Germans were advancing only to their own 
destruction and would be hemmed in and perish 
through mountain-storm and snow. However, 
he lays great stress upon the importance of aid 
to Russia from the United States. 

"We do not need your soldiers, ammunition 
or food but we do need a propaganda to educate, 
instinct and enlighten the peoples of Russia, 
to mould them together into one great nation. 
The Russian peasant of whom I was one, is 
the real Russian after all and forms the greater 
part of the Russian nation. They are as they 
are, for they know no better but are eager for 

34 



learning and education and are at heart a mar- 
velous people. Germany has flooded the coun- 
try with lies and false reports, particularly 
among the soldiery but even they need only to 
be shown the right and they will arise as one 
man, not alone for their own salvation but for 
the salvation of the entire world. My people, 
Mrs. Durand, were never an aggressive people 
but a simple folk with high spiritual intuition. 
The peasant, the soldier, even the educated 
Russian does not know to what extent the 
United States has entered this world war. 
Tell them of it, that it may give them the 
courage they have, to fight their own enemies 
within and the common enemy without — 
ah ! if Russia would but unite as one man and 
throw her whole strength against Germany at 
once ! Alas, my hopes may not be realized — 
the Russian people are still children. 

"My country needs but the leadership of 
your country, to bring out its best — to expel 
the traitor and spy. The Bolsheviki with 
Lenine and Trotzky as leaders are only Ger- 
many's tools, not true Russians and are to 
Russia what Benedict XV, Austria's tool, is to 
Italy. The Vatican is absolutely traitorous to 
Italy and to the Allies' cause, and is betraying 
them at every turn. Why will not the United 
States wake up to this fact, and declare war 
against Austria? I cannot understand it. An 

35 



absolute pact was arranged between the Kaiser 
and the Vatican to move the See at Rome 
to America and with a certain Roman Cath- 
olic element in America and the Imperial 
Germans there, together with a following of 
Irish Agitators planned to embarrass the 
administration and if possible take possession 
of the United States. This reptile with its 
venomous trickery is the poison that is work- 
ing into the very vitals of your industrial in- 
terests even into government channels, the 
same as in Russia. Unless all avenues for 
its destruction be opened up at once — ex- 
posed and expurged — an industrial war will 
be upon you that will shake the very founda- 
tion of civilization and hamper your effective 
aid to the Allies in the establishment of right- 
eous freedom, security and peace.' ' 



36 



CHAPTER IV 

Clergy from Every Church and Creed 
Acknowledge Spiritism as a Fact 

Tn glancing through the records compiled 
by Mr. R. A. Dague, to whom I wish to 
acknowledge my indebtedness for the many 
names I have used of the big men of life who 
recognized the truth of Spirit communication, 
I see besides those already mentioned, the 
following: 

The Rev. H. W. Thomas, D. D., the great 
Methodist who for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury preached every Sunday to thousands of 
people in one of the famous theaters of Chi- 
cago. Dr. Thomas said: "I am a Spiritual- 
ist. I would have to give up the Bible if I de- 
nied the ministry of spirits. . . . Thirty 
years ago I was so fortunate as to discover 
that Spiritualism meant a continuity of life. 
I found that I was in sympathy with its teach- 
ings. ... I am a Spiritualist." 

The Rev. R. Heber Newton (Episcopalian) 
preached a sermon which was published in 
the New York World of April 1 1, 1897, in which 
he said: " Spiritualism is a truth which is 

37 



embodied in the records of the very beginning 
of our Christian religion." 

Rev. Lyman Abbott, D. D., of Henry Ward 
Beecher's old church (Congregationalist), said: 
"I do not believe that those who have died 
have gone far away from us. I love to 
think my mother follows me with her eyes as 
she did when I was a boy. I believe that the 
strange, subtle, inexplicable and indefinable 
influence that sometimes comes into my life 
is from her." 

Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn, N. Y., said: 
" There have been times in which I declare to 
you heaven was more real than earth; in 
which my children that were gone spoke more 
plainly to me than my children that were with 
me. These glimpses of the future state are a 
great comfort and consolation to all those who 
are looking for the development of perfect 
manhood. It is generally admitted from the 
very beginning of things that this world has 
been open to the influence of spirits. That 
false notions have arisen during all ages con- 
cerning Spiritualism does not prove its fallacy 
by any means." 

Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Milburn (Presbyterian) 
said: "They are forming a sect called Spirit- 
ualists. You cannot laugh at Spiritualism. On- 
ly shallow people laugh at Spiritualism. Only 
ignorant people laugh at Spiritualism. The 

38 



thoughtful man no longer laughs at the 
Spiritualist. That man is reaching for a truth 
beyond the truth that he can find within the 
boundaries of the visible church/ ' 

Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows of Chicago, Bishop 
of the Reformed Episcopal Church, says: "I 
believe in apparitions, and think it is possible 
that there are mediums who have the power of 
materializing visitors from the Spirit World. 
Psychic research has opened up a new field, 
and it is no longer scientific to pooh ! pooh ! at 
Spiritualism/ ' 

J. Godfrey Raupert of London, who was 
especially delegated by Pope Pius X. to lecture 
to Catholic audiences in America on Spirit- 
ualism and its dangers, said: "It is no longer 
possible to put the phenomena aside. A few 
years ago it was the policy of the church to 
avoid the dangers of spiritism by saying noth- 
ing about it, but today the scientific men all 
over the world have recognized spiritism as a 
definite and real power, and to shelve it is a 
dangerous policy; consequently the Pope has 
asked me to tell Catholics just the attitude to 
take toward this mysterious subject. . . . 
The Church admits the reality of these phe- 
nomena/ ' 

Archdeacon Colley of England, rector of 
Stockton, says : "Spiritualism comes as a god- 
send to millions who are incapable of believing 

39 



the Christian faith without its aid. It teaches 
that death is the gate of life, hence that there 
is continuous and immediate and conscious 
being with no sleeping in the grave." 

"Italia" of Rome, a few years ago said: 
"Joan of Arc recently appeared to Pope Pius 
and addressed to him solemn words of encour- 
agement and exhortation. It was while the 
Holy Father was indulging in devout prayer 
and meditation in his private oratory imme- 
diately after the ceremony of reading the de- 
cree of beatification that the spirit appeared." 



40 



CHAPTER V 

The World's Greatest Statesmen, 

Authors and Poets Voiced the 

Truth of Spirit 

Communication 

AMONG the world's greatest statesmen, 
authors, and poets, who were outspoken 
Spiritists, one finds: 

Hon. Arthur Balfour, late Prime Minister of 
England; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. 
Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, John 
Greenleaf Whittier, Lydia Maria Child, Julia 
Ward Howe, Lucretia Mott, Ella Wheeler 
Wilcox, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth 
Stuart Phelps, and Marie Corelli. 

Harriet Beecher St owe said she deserved no 
credit for writing " Uncle Tom's Cabin, " as 
every line of it was spoken to her inner ear by 
a spirit voice. 

Thomson Jay Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D., au- 
thor of a work entitled "A Scientific Demon- 
stration of the Future Life," written twenty- 
five years ago, said: "The man who denies 
the phenomena of spiritism today is not en- 
titled to be a skeptic. He is simply ignorant 

4i 



and it would be a hopeless task to attempt to 
enlighten him." 

In mentioning Ralph Waldo Emerson I 
must not let pass a charming and interesting 
incident which I had a short time ago with 
Mr. Emerson. A friend came to take luncheon 
with me; it so happened to be a day when a 
well known voice medium was passing the 
day at my home. After luncheon we three 
went into my seance room for a visit with 
our friends in the Spirit world. We were 
there but a short time when Mr. Emerson 
announced himself. My friend was much ex- 
cited and at once exclaimed, "Certainly this 
cannot be the great Emerson. " "Yes, my 
dear brother," replied Mr. Emerson, "the 
great Emerson if you so wish to call me, but 
let me tell you I was only great in being the 
instrument for God to use to bring some beau- 
tiful and useful truths to the world." My 
friend then told Mr. Emerson that upon the 
day of Mr. Emerson's death, April 27, 1882, 
he was a student at Harvard College and that 
during the class recitation in English Litera- 
ture, Prof. Charles Eliott Norton recited to 
the class an unpublished poem which he said 
Mr. Emerson had given him. Professor Nor- 
ton taught the poem to the class, then ad- 
monished them never to write it or let it be 
written or printed. As my friend started to 

. 42 



repeat the poem, Mr. Emerson joined in and 
finished it with him, then turned to me and 
said: "Mrs. Durand, I want you to learn that 
poem sometime and put it in an article on 
Spiritism and say to the world that I from the 
Spirit world give you this unpublished poem 
to print, which I gave to my friend Charles 
Norton at Cambridge over thirty-five years 
ago. 

A rare and beautiful phase of my life indeed 
to have such converse with Mr. Emerson, for 
as I grew into womanhood, it was seldom that 
I was without a volume of Emerson near at 
hand, and together with Epictetus and Seneca, 
no matter how many times a passage was read 
from one or the other of them, a new thought 
was given me which brought greater inspira- 
tion and courage. 

"Work of his hand 
He nor commends nor grieves ; 
Pleads for itself the fact, 
As unrepenting Nature leaves 
Her every act." 



43 



CHAPTER VI 

My Own Awakening to the Truth. 
Christian Science vs. Spirit Healing, 

Many Testimonials 

T N personally laying bare my own conversion 
to Spiritism, I have this to say. Up to eight 
months ago the word Spiritism or Spiritual- 
ism was to me an unknown quantity, suggest- 
ing fakes and charlatans. Psychical Research, 
however, commanded my respect, although 
with the exception of a superficial interest 
many years ago in Occult Science, Esoteric 
Magic and Psychic Phenomena, I was wholly 
unprepared for this great revelation. 

This came from the passing over of a much 
beloved sister. 

I had heard of the book " Raymond," by Sir 
Oliver Lodge, only a day or two before my 
sister's death, but did not secure a copy until 
several days later, and the first intimation I 
had that I myself was psychic came through 
automatic writing from my sister. In an in- 
direct and wandering way I was led later to a 
medium. I went wholly unknown to the 
medium and no one knew of my intention of 

44 



going. The address of the medium was given 
me over a public telephone and my name was 
not mentioned. I received a most accurate 
and startling "reading" and I returned to my 
home full of excitement and happiness. A 
fortnight later a second visit was made with 
absolute proof of the genuineness of the com- 
munication and my own conviction of its 
authenticity. 

The day following I left for California, and 
learning of a voice medium, arrived at her 
home wholly unexpected, a few hours after 
reaching California from the East and only an 
hour after hearing of her. I did not know 
what a voice medium meant nor the nature of 
the "sitting" but when in the very presence 
of the "beyond" my beloved sister spoke to 
me in her own sweet voice, the inexpressible 
joy of knowing that the veil had been torn 
aside — the abyss bridged — the last enemy 
of all destroyed — was very great. 

Since that day I have had quick and mar- 
velous development and have been led tenderly, 
lovingly step by step through guidance from 
the Spirit world. 

Having been a Christian Scientist since 1899 
and having received the very best class in- 
struction through the late Edward A. Kimball, 
I can perhaps appreciate more fully than the 
average person the beauty and marvel of spirit 

45 



healing by the physicians in the Spirit world. 
Mrs. Eddy was herself a medium, and had she 
permitted her Guides to lead her, would have 
developed into a remarkable instrument for 
Spirit communication, but the forces left her 
for a reason and the book "Science and Health' ' 
was written, with catches of the Divine, mostly 
through mortal mind and became a commercial 
proposition with her. 

To deny the good of Christian Science is not 
only foolish but wrong, for wonderful results 
have been obtained through its agency and the 
getting away from the old dogma and narrow 
creed of the orthodox church is a great step 
forward. Christian Science is a beautiful and 
sweet religion and has healed many a sorrow- 
ing heart but it is not all Truth and to deny the 
existence of matter or the physical body is to 
deny God, for our life here in the flesh is a part 
of the Life Eternal. It is all the same — the 
one beautiful life — and this body created by 
God, given us by God, should be honored, 
cared for and acknowledged. To abuse, to 
ignore, to deny our physical body one might as 
well deny life itself. And for Mrs. Eddy to 
have taught her students to wage war, as it 
were, on Spiritism, is nothing short of sacrilege 
and I am convinced that she herself knew bet- 
ter even when in the act of decrying it. It 
was because Mrs. Eddy listened to her own 

46 



voice and not the voice of God that she was 
estranged from her Guides who would have 
taught her the Truth, and she was, therefore, 
denied further communication. 

In another volume I hope to enter more 
fully into this subject, and may have the privi- 
lege of Mrs. Eddy herself explaining to me 
where Christian Science is the truth and where 
it is not. But I do know that all healing is 
from above and where demonstrations of heal- 
ing are made by a Christian Science Practi- 
tioner, it is not because the Practitioner in 
denying matter and error receives results 
from that denial, but it is because the Prac- 
titioner is so near his or her Guides that the 
earnestness of prayer and purpose brings the 
aid asked for. 

I talk to Dr. Nicholas Senn, Dr. John B. 
Murphy, Dr. Henry B. Favill, as readily 
and as easily as if they were in the flesh 
seated in their office chair, and many cases 
medicinal and surgical have been explained 
to me. I can attest to a most remarkable 
diagnosis by Dr. Senn relative to myself. 
Having for twenty years been a sufferer 
from acute facial neuralgia, I went to a 
well-known Chicago Hospital a year ago 
for a careful examination to ascertain the 
cause of the pain. A prominent nose and 
throat specialist saw nothing wrong in my 

47 



nose or throat, and in fact none of the special- 
ists, after making every test and examination, 
found the cause. However, a dental surgeon in 
examining an X-ray plate of my teeth an- 
nounced that four teeth should be extracted, 
that they in all probability caused my suffer- 
ing. A second dental surgeon, but of another 
school, agreed also that four teeth should 
come out but only one was included in the 
first four. I finally consented and four per- 
fectly strong hard teeth were cracked with a 
hammer and the pieces delicately or indeli- 
cately picked out, and with only a local an- 
aesthetic. The result was a week of nervous 
exhaustion and intense suffering at the hos- 
pital and five months of severe neuralgic head- 
ache, so that my "last state was worse than 
the first.' ' In speaking of this circumstance 
Dr. Senn indignantly denounced such a brutal 
treatment and more indignantly denied the 
necessity of extracting the teeth, for such 
infection as was seen in the roots or ducts of 
the teeth could be easily reached and treated 
and the pus pockets cleansed. And I have 
since learned that much of my severe illness 
after the operation, which I presumed came 
from the infection in the teeth, was in reality 
due to the harmful effect of the drug and 
to an infected instrument used in the hypo- 
dermic at the time of the extraction of the 

48 



teeth. For at a later date, in removing a 
nerve, the dentist again used an infected in- 
strument and too powerful an anaesthetic 
which brought about exactly the same serious 
results I had before experienced. And better 
than any X-Ray examination, I was told the 
real cause of my neuralgia: 

"When a child, Mrs. Durand, you had an 
injury either through a fall or blow upon the 
nose, which resulted in the mal-position of the 
Septum, the central bone of your nose, while 
the bone was soft and easily displaced. This 
deflection caused a prevention of drainage from 
the ethmoid and frontal sinuses and has kept 
up more or less inflammation with a pressure 
upon the nerve centers producing neuritis of 
the face. Particularily in damp weather the 
injured, ill-fed nerves became more inflamed 
and created greater pain. You have really 
never breathed through your left nostril and 
consequently your blood was not receiving all 
the oxygen it should have received and your 
whole nervous system has been underfed. This 
abnormal bone together with a partly atrophied 
adenoid should be cut out. You have beside 
this, tonsillar pockets and crypts with infected 
material in your throat which must also be 
removed as it is conducive to your neuralgic 
condition, and the eustachian tubes need 
to be opened up. Go to Dr. whom I 

49 



brought to Chicago and who is absolutely the 
finest nasal and throat operator today, and 
have him fix you up, but tell him not to charge 
you millionaire prices' 9 

Upon reaching the Surgeon's office I placed 
face down on his office desk a piece of paper 
with Dr. Senn's diagnosis written upon it. I 
did not mention anything, not even my severe 
headaches, only asked for an examination of 
my nose and throat. After the examination 

Dr. turned to me and said, "Why, my 

dear woman, your left nostril is entirely closed 
and always has been." With that he gave 
me the exact diagnosis of Dr. Senn. I handed 
him the slip of paper from the table to which 
he exclaimed, "By George, this is extraor- 
dinary! It beats anything I ever heard of!" 
The result was a removal of a bone the size of 
a green bean seed, and for the first time in my 
life I breathed freely, and since that day have 
not had one trace of neuralgic pain. 

Among the many cases I know of bearing 
testimony of Spirit healing is that of a young 
woman who through stoppage in the rectum 
was obliged to undergo the operation of 
colotomy. With many operations she had 
been confined in her bed for years and her 
case considered incurable. Hearing of Spirit 
healing through a medium, she asked that the 
Spirit doctors tell her the trouble and if her 

50 



case was really hopeless. She was told what op- 
eration to have done and followed their advice. 
The opening in her side was closed, the rectum 
was made to perform its natural function, and 
she is today a perfectly well and happy woman. 

Another case, that comes to my mind, is 
that of a five-year-old child badly poisoned 
with measles. She became so infected she 
could not be recognized. After a consultation 
of three physicians had decided she could not 
live the night through, a friend at the same 
apartment house, who was particularly fond 
of the little girl, in desperation rang up a 
medium and asked for help. The medium 
at once went into her seance room and re- 
mained all night that the Spirit doctors might 
draw strength from her for the child. About 
four o'clock she was told a change had come 
and she might retire. Exhausted and half 
asleep, she thought the Spirit physicians 
meant the child had passed over into the Spirit 
world. But early next morning the friend tel- 
ephoned her that a miracle had been performed, 
for the child had just opened her eyes and had 
recognized her father and would live. The 
child did live and is a strong, active little girl 
today. 

One of the most remarkable cases of Spirit 
healing — and it is difficult to know wnere to 
stop where there are so many to relate — was 

5i 



that of a young man who caught a severe cold 
that went to his lungs. He looked as though 
he were dying, and every one, including his 
physician, expected him to die. He was taken 
to the County Hospital, but hearing of spirit 
healing through a medium, he asked if she 
might be with him at the hospital during the 
examination by the hospital surgeons. The 
medium told the physicians that the young 
man had an abscess on his lung and that they 
should operate to relieve the pus, but they 
only smilingly informed her she was mistaken. 
However, when the young man was about to 
die, as a last resort an operation was performed 
and over a cup of pus removed, and today he 
is as well and vigorous as ever. 

I could go on through many pages relating 
just such incidents as these for the blind are 
made to see, the lame to walk, and every known 
malady, whether medicinal or surgical, healed 
through guidance and care. But that does 
not mean a denial of the disease or the letting 
alone of the " claim/ ' as the Christian Scientists 
call it, for the correct diagnosis is given by the 
Spirit world and one is directed to the proper 
surgeon or physician for treatment or in some 
cases simple remedies, change of diet and liv- 
ing is advised. Again steam baths, electric or 
medicinal, are advocated. Dr. Nicholas Senn 
told me one day that about ninety per cent of 

52 



the present day diagnoses, even among our 
most reputable physicians and surgeons, is 
really guess work; and according to Dr. John 
B. Murphy, in surgery it is all a matter of who 
is the most fearless " butcher." "Why, I was 
just as bad as the rest of them Mrs. Durand. 
I only achieved my great reputation as a sur- 
geon, because I happened to be a little bigger 
butcher, — sometimes I hit it right, some- 
times I didn't." This is not written dispar- 
agingly of the physician or surgeon, for often- 
times they can not really know the trouble 
until an operation is performed. I recall Dr. 
Murphy's explaining this to me in the case of 
gall stones and appendicitis. A surgeon may 
operate for one, when it is the other, for an 
X-Ray does not always locate the gall stone, 
and not seeing a stone the appendix is decided 
upon as the guilty destroyer whereas it may 
be wholly innocent. The symptoms are very 
similar, Dr. Murphy says — vomiting in both 
cases. However, there will always run a tem- 
perature with an infected appendix and not so 
frequent or at all, if I remember him correctly, 
with a gall stone. 

A physician or surgeon should go to a good 
voice or trance medium, but only to one of 
high Spirituality, reliable and morally above 
reproach — and not be ashamed to go, — talk 
to the physicians in the Spirit world, many 

53 



of whom are old friends, get the proper 
diagnosis and advice before operating, or treat 
the case as may be and follow out the in- 
structions given by the Spirit world in the 
matter of proper diet and proper living for 
the human race — much suffering and disease 
would thus be prevented. And in communi- 
cating with those who have passed over, but 
who are much the same as when in the 
flesh — retaining their own individuality — the 
fear of disease and the sting of death would 
be lifted from trembling and suffering human- 
ity. Man then could live in peace of mind, 
seeking only the greater knowledge for his 
Spiritual growth and betterment. 



54 



CHAPTER VII 

Separating the Tares from the Wheat — 

All Genius is but Inspiration 

from the Spirit World 

T N giving out this experience and knowledge 
of Spirit communication I do not stand for 
all who may call themselves mediums or even 
Spiritualists, nor do I represent any Spirit- 
ualists' League or Church. As in all things, 
''Prove all things, hold fast to that which is 
good," for there are false as well as true proph- 
ets, and sad indeed, there is the unworthy 
medium who traffics in her God-given gift 
seeking the material substance it brings rather 
than the spiritual unfoldment of those who 
come to her. And sadder still, is the un- 
scrupulous medium — surrounded by invisible 
entities of the evil forces — who prey upon a 
victim as a vulture, gratifying their own 
vicious desires in the cloak of " beings from 
above 7 ' — the passing over from the flesh to 
the Spirit condition does not at once make 
perfect. Life is progression. Like attracts 
like, and a medium unless absolutely pure, 
good, honest, will attract about her those 

55 



from the Spirit world that are the same — 
and these evil Spirits oft-times will personate 
good Spirits and even the loved ones of those 
who come for communication, in order to 
gain their own selfish aims or the demands 
of their medium. But the time is coming, I 
know, when Spiritism, respected and revered 
will be placed where it should have been placed 
for the past 2000 years — above all reproach 
and criticism. It is the Truth — the Great 
Master brought — that is so misunderstood, so 
misapplied in the many sects and creeds. 

The Constitution of the United States gives 
individual religious freedom, and many of the 
States are now making laws for the protection 
of legitimate Spiritism and the expulsion of the 
faker and charlatan. The great difficulty, 
however, in sifting the fraudulent from the 
true, lies in the public or laymen not being 
able to judge properly, and, as has been the 
case, a fine medium may be branded by the 
police or press as an imposter whereas in re- 
ality she is a beautiful handmaiden of God 
giving solace to the afflicted and distressed. 

In time, I am convinced, a greater under- 
standing and interest will bring about a de- 
sired reform in the setting forth of this reli- 
gion, for it is the only true religion, not merely 
a religion of faith or hope but actual fact, and 
should be protected and presented in a dig- 

56 



nified, reverent manner and only in beautiful 
and proper surroundings. One asks right here, 
if Spiritism is knowledge, and the only true 
religion, why then has it not been experienced 
and practiced more generally these past 2000 
years? I answer with another question. Be- 
cause a child in the first grade at school can 
not grasp Euclid, should Euclid, who collected 
and systematized all the fundamental princi- 
ples of pure mathematics which had been de- 
livered down by Thales, Pythagoras, Eudoxas 
and other mathematicians before him, be de- 
clared false? 

The world for the past 2000 years has never 
gone beyond the first grade, but God grant 
that this awful fire the world is now passing 
through may be the means of raising it to a 
higher plane of knowledge and understanding. 
For, from every path of the earth life, legal 
and the church — physicians and surgeons, 
authors, statesmen, men of affairs, of art, of 
music, — each in his particular "calling" is 
now, from the Spirit world, directing condi- 
tions on this earth plane as tirelessly and as 
faithfully as when in the flesh — and 2000 
years in Eternity is but as a day. 

Worthy exponents of many religions and 
creeds when on earth, even from the Far 
East, teach now from above the one Truth — 
the one Life — the one Love — the one God; 

57 



and Spirits from the higher spheres come to 
those who are ready to receive them, giving 
the higher truths of the Life Eternal. 

Our own noted and brilliant personalities on 
the earth plane — inventors, writers, poets, 
musicians, sculptors, painters — are in reality 
but psychics whose achievements come because 
they are mediums and can retain impressions 
given them by the Spirit world. Some know 
this, others do not. 

Take Galli-Curci, for an example — her won- 
derful gift is God-given, through the inspira- 
tion of Jenny Lind. I have been granted the 
exceptional favor of hearing Jenny Lind sing 
four times. Her voice from the Spirit world 
is Galli-Curci's, or more correctly, Galli-Curci's 
voice is Jenny Lind's. I doubt if an artist 
could tell one from the other. And I was 
told that Jenny Lind, finding in this young 
Spanish-Italian girl a proper channel or proper 
mediumistic conditions, inspired her with her 
own rare gift. 

And Jascha Heifitz, the violinist — no such 
gift as his has been given the world since 
Paganini. A critic says of him, "A mere 
youth (but nineteen years old) Heifitz demon- 
strated in Tschaikowsky's concerto that he has 
far outstripped the masters of the art. Not 
Ysaye himself in his best days, not Kriesler nor 
Elman nor any of their illustrious forbears 

58 



have been blest with genius such as that which 
the young Russian possesses/' 

In speaking of Heifitz a concert-goer said, 
"But it is only that he is a natural violin- 
ist. " Yes, that is the keynote exactly. He is 
a natural violinist. Why? Because he has 
brought back his great gift with him from the 
Spirit world in this reincarnation, or else he 
is a fine psychic and some Spirit in the Spirit 
world is giving him the inspiration. It is 
ever as they say — and greater things yet will 
be. 

I am also told that it is possible when a por- 
trait or bust is being executed of one who has 
passed over, for that one to so impress the 
artist or sculptor with his living likeness that 
the result at times is startling, or as the world 
expresses it, "most life-like/ ' and an artist has 
been known to say, "I really felt his presence/ ' 
Mr. Lincoln has assured me, however, that he 
did not impress the sculptor Barnard in the 
execution of his hideous Lincoln Statue. To 
quote Mr. Lincoln, who is much displeased 
with the Barnard effort: 

"The statue — that statue of Barnard's — 
why, Mrs. Durand, it is dreadful — a carica- 
ture. I am glad my son Robert has come out 
so strong against it. It is an outrage. How 
that man Barnard can put it over anybody, I 
can't see. I never looked like that, and it is 

59 



a disgrace to have any President of the United 
States look like that, even if I did. No, just 
tell the people for me I never want that statue 
placed anywhere except in the junk heap." 
Mr. Lincoln is very fond of the Augustus St. 
Gaudens Statue in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and 
no doubt found the sculptor receptive of in- 
spiration during its conception. Receiving 
word one evening last spring that Mr. Lincoln 
and Judge Sheperd wished me to go at once to 
a certain professional voice medium in Chicago 
I hastily caught an early evening train to 
Chicago from my country home. As I drove 
up Dearborn Avenue to the Park on my way to 
her home, a light fall of snow with the new 
system of lighting brought out the Lincoln 
Statue in the most unusual and extraordinary 
effect. It was superb, and the first thing 
Mr. Lincoln greeted me with was, "Well, Mrs. 
Durand, my statue looked pretty fine tonight, 
didn't it?" 

This marvelous "knowing" even of one's 
thoughts by the Spirit world, as applied to 
seemingly trivial affairs unnoticed by the hu- 
man being, is at times startling, nevertheless 
very beautiful, showing the interest displayed 
in our behalf. In deference to Mr. Lincoln 
why not settle the controversy "To be or not 
to be?" for all time. Act upon his pleasure 
and consign the Barnard statue to the "junk 

60 



heap." If permitted to be placed the dis- 
cussion would never end. The world — or 
England, to be more specific, — wishes to 
honor Abraham Lincoln with a statue. She 
may now honor him with his wish and judg- 
ment. 

It is inspiration from the Spirit world which 
made possible the telephone, wireless, aero- 
plane, — in fact, all inventors are inspired, be- 
ing instruments or mediums through which 
ideas from the Spirit world may be carried out 
on the earth plane, and the time is coming when 
an instrument will be used for Spirit com- 
munication where one may speak to those 
"on the other side" as readily as now 
through the telephone from town to town. 
The human medium will be replaced by a 
sensitive wave instrument on the principle 
of the wireless telephone. One speaks of a 
great genius on earth; he is great Only in 
being a great psychic or medium, and there- 
by an instrument the Spirit world can use. 
To explain this a Spirit from one of the 
higher spheres said, and to quote her exact 
words: 

"Spirits return earthward to carry their 
knowledge as a blessing to the inhabitants 
of earth, and finding some receptive brain 
breathe on it the fires from off the altar of 
their own souls, until it kindles to a steady 

61 



flame, when the world will startle from its 
day-dreams by the power of a great painter 
or a great sculptor or a great poet or a great 
musician." And to again quote Ralph Waldo 
Emerson from the Spirit world: 

"I went through my earthly existence with- 
out realizing the inspiration I got. I thought 
I was fortunate in being able to do my work, 
but as I go on I see I was inspired. Even my 
condition was an inspiration and it seemed to 
make it easy. I always sought the spiritual 
part of life and my conditions came easily and 
I was very happy. I hope the world will study 
my books with this view and feel the inspira- 
tion in them." 

Before many years pass, half the world will 
so develop that it will recognize and under- 
stand from whence all knowledge and under- 
standing is given and will lean not on earthly 
knowledge or mortal thought but on spiritual 
guidance alone. 

As Count Tolstoi has said, " The Spirit world 
is able to inspire many these days. You will 
find in time that human beings will become 
more sensitive instruments for us; the Spirit 
voices will be heard everywhere and the Truth 
shall then be known." 

This scourging of today is really but the 
passing out of the accumulation of sin that 
is in the world, — Greed, Hate, Godlessness^ 

62 



Autocracy, whether of power or wealth will be 
levelled, creeds and institutions will pass, and 
the Victory of Peace and Love will be trium- 
phant in one great brotherhood of man and 
nations. 

A great and beautiful Spirituality is to 
come, governed and guided by the Spirit 
world, which after all is not far distant but 
near at hand in reality, a part of our very 
life and existence and 



From the ashes of today shall arise a more 
glorified Spirituality tomorrow. 



63 



A VISION 

HTOBA Y, looking from above, I see before me a vision 
of great beauty; 

Earth, God's own creation, is green in foliage of deepest 
hue. 

Across the vast expanse of land, yellow crops wave in lux- 
uriant wealth; 

Flowers and ferns are heaped in extravagant splendor. 

Crystal waters lie glistening in the clear and brilliant 
atmosphere; 

Cattle graze on the fertile hills, and sheep nestle by the 
wayside. 

Birds of gorgeous plumage spread their wings aloof, 

And in every breath of wind the songs of many birds break 
forth. 

Calm — Peaceful — with villages of white, 

The lazy smoke from the tiled roof of the home floats up- 
ward. 

Happy children in joyous laughter romp beneath the 
spreading branches, 

And man at last has found his own, and is embraced in 
the arms of his Creator. 



64 



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